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Eskom has notified both the Gamagara and Tsantsbane local municipalities that due to failure to honour their pay-ment agreements, electricity supply will be interupted until such time as the agree-ments have been renewed.According to notifications published in leading daily newspapers, Gamagara owes Eskom R65 572 564.51 and Tsantsabane R85 061 060.00.Eskom states that due to its statutory obli-gation to supply electricity to the country, the outstanding amounts are threatening the financial sustainability of its service provision nationally.The towns of Kathu, Olifantshoek, Dingle-ton and Postmasburg are affected.The notice provides a schedule of the down times over a three week period. During the first week from 29 March - 05 April 2018, the power will off between 06:00 - 08:00 and 17:00 - 19:30.During the second week from 06 April - 11 April 2018 the down times will be between 06:00 - 09:00 and 17:00 - 20:30. During the third week, electricity will not be available from 06:00 - 20:00 and this down time will remain until such time as the agree-ment has been renewed and re-activated. There are specific times for weekends also.Eskom adds that it reserves the right to completely disconnect power indefinitely with only a 15-day notice period if no pro-gress is made by the respective munici-palities with regard to settlement of the out-standing amounts. Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance coun-cillors at Gamagara local municipality have requested the Speaker Dineo Moyo for an ur-gent meeting with the mayor Edwin Hantise.Provincially, DA Constituency Head of Lohatla and Member of the Provincial Legi-slature Melinda Hattingh, has lashed out at kom to prevent load shedding last year. Given the dire financial state of Gamagara municipality, this agreement was never sus-tainable and was subsequently not be hon-oured. All attempts made by the Kathu Gazette to reach the local government officials for comment were futile.the former acting Municipal Manager and current Chief Financial Manager, Moses Grond whom had entered into a payment agreement with Es-kom to prevent load shedding last year. Given the dire financial state of Gamagara municipality, this agreement was never sus-tainable and was subsequently not be hon-oured.

We want to allay fears that this is not true,” he said. “The bar-coded green ID book remains valid up until the department announces its expiration. Again, if the announce-ment is to be made, it would not be so prompt so as to unsettle citizens. There is no way they can be revoked without a long term notice. “The social media is not the depart-ment's mouthpiece. We still believe in our traditional channels of conveying im-portant information to the general public, where the print and electronic media play an important role,” Mr Pitso added. On an equal footing, the department is still appealing to the general public to come and apply for the new smart identi-ty card. New smart identity card appli-cants who did not have the green bar-coded ones before and pensioners aged above sixty get the new smart card for free. Anyone less than sixty years old and who has the green ID book, is eligible to pay R140 for the new smart card. Lastly, the Kuruman office is urging pa-rents of new born babies to register them on the spot at the Tswaragano and Ku-ruman hospitals between Mondays and Fridays.

The Kathu Gazette had already re-ported on page 16 of the edition dated 20 January 2018 that the expiration of the green bar-coded ID on 31 March 2018 was not true. Editor

The Home Affairs office in Kuruman overflowed as the community heeded false messages that were spread via the social media to the effect that the green identity book is being phased out with imme-diate effect. On March 06, 2018, the queue meandered for almost fifty metres outside the offices, raising eyebrows to any observant passerby. The Kathu Gazette approached the depart-ment's district spokesperson, Aobakwe Pitso, to shed light on the situation. “We are equally taken by surprise about this influx. Understandably, the community is responding to the hearsay from the social media that the green bar coded ID’s validity is expiring by March 31, 2018. This is causing untold confusion and panic among the people.

The John Taolo Gaetsewe Business Chamber was launched on March 12, 2018 at the Gamagara communi-ty hall. The new establishment has so far garner-ed about 120 members drawn from the dis-trict's local municipalities - an emphatic ge-sture of enthusiasm shown by different em-erging business people. The committee and council structures, yet to be announced upon finalisation of can-didates, shall be composed of eight exec-utive committee members and seven non-executive ones to constitute a council. Briefing the media was Kingsley Tshaba-lala who said that the business chamber in the making is coming up with a refined ap-proach in the region, aimed at revamping business enhancement and creating an en-abling platform where opportunities must be distributed among members with great rationale and transparency. He said that emerging businesses need one another and, as a result, selfish ends need to be guarded against. The chamber wants to explore many ways to ensure that businesses are capa-citated so that the opportunities that arise are utilised to build confidence and good reputation. Very soon, the executive will ini-tiate extensive consultations with various stakeholders that include local economic offices to market the chamber and its broad objectives. The broader council shall be structured in such way that a certain group will target a certain sector to sell the chamber's idea of doing business and report back the out-comes as a monitoring and evaluation pro-cess. “We want to create cordial relationships with established businesses, organisations and institutions in an endeavour to learn, get support and enhance our capacity,” said Mr Tshabalala. “On the issue of new membership, the chamber is drafting a comprehensive piece of legislation that will guide minimum entry qualifications to ensure there is control, dis-cipline and sanity by prospective en-trants. The business chamber is prioritising a code of ethics within its ranks so that the level of transparency remains high to attract a reputable image and a sense of belonging by members,” Mr Tshabalala concluded.

On Saturday,10 March, the Basket-ball league was held at Sivos. The enthusiasm and the drive of these kids gave it their all on the court. Saddening is the fact that this growing South African sport was not attended by the relevant schools or parents and that there is very little support for these children. They do not have team gear or proper refreshments and it was hard to tell them apart. A parent from Kathu High, Basie Eilerd says that it is hard for them to travel to games as none of the schools support their players and they have a problem getting the players to away matches. It is all up to coach Lionel Phiri, Basie Eilerd and Sydney Nitili to make things happen for these eager kids. They coach, motivate, support and have com-mitted to these kids and the sport. Kudos to you all! It is a great, high impact, easy to learn sport that can be enjoyed by all. If there are any businesses or corporations interested in donating gear it would be much appreciated. They practise every evening at Sivos at 6pm. Come join the Basketball family or just come and support this growing sport, you may just like it! you all! It is a great, high impact, easy to learn sport that can be enjoyed by all. If there are any businesses or corporations interested in donating gear it would be much appreciated. They practise every evening at Sivos at 6pm. Come join the Basketball family or just come and support this growing sport, you may just like it! Results for Saturday: Gamagara High won vs Langeberg High; Baitiredi High Tech & Com 24 vs Sishen Intermediate 21Kathu High 34 vs Sishen Intermediate 11Gamagara High 9 vs Baitiredi Tech & Com 13

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Eskom has notified both the Gamagara and Tsantsbane local municipalities that due to failure to honour their pay-ment agreements, electricity supply will be interupted until such time as the agree-ments have been renewed.According to notifications published in leading daily newspapers, Gamagara owes Eskom R65 572 564.51 and Tsantsabane R85 061 060.00.Eskom states that due to its statutory obli-gation to supply electricity to the country, the outstanding amounts are threatening the financial sustainability of its service provision nationally.The towns of Kathu, Olifantshoek, Dingle-ton and Postmasburg are affected.The notice provides a schedule of the down times over a three week period. During the first week from 29 March - 05 April 2018, the power will off between 06:00 - 08:00 and 17:00 - 19:30.During the second week from 06 April - 11 April 2018 the down times will be between 06:00 - 09:00 and 17:00 - 20:30. During the third week, electricity will not be available from 06:00 - 20:00 and this down time will remain until such time as the agree-ment has been renewed and re-activated. There are specific times for weekends also.Eskom adds that it reserves the right to completely disconnect power indefinitely with only a 15-day notice period if no pro-gress is made by the respective munici-palities with regard to settlement of the out-standing amounts. Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance coun-cillors at Gamagara local municipality have requested the Speaker Dineo Moyo for an ur-gent meeting with the mayor Edwin Hantise.Provincially, DA Constituency Head of Lohatla and Member of the Provincial Legi-slature Melinda Hattingh, has lashed out at kom to prevent load shedding last year. Given the dire financial state of Gamagara municipality, this agreement was never sus-tainable and was subsequently not be hon-oured. All attempts made by the Kathu Gazette to reach the local government officials for comment were futile.the former acting Municipal Manager and current Chief Financial Manager, Moses Grond whom had entered into a payment agreement with Es-kom to prevent load shedding last year. Given the dire financial state of Gamagara municipality, this agreement was never sus-tainable and was subsequently not be hon-oured.

We want to allay fears that this is not true,” he said. “The bar-coded green ID book remains valid up until the department announces its expiration. Again, if the announce-ment is to be made, it would not be so prompt so as to unsettle citizens. There is no way they can be revoked without a long term notice. “The social media is not the depart-ment's mouthpiece. We still believe in our traditional channels of conveying im-portant information to the general public, where the print and electronic media play an important role,” Mr Pitso added. On an equal footing, the department is still appealing to the general public to come and apply for the new smart identi-ty card. New smart identity card appli-cants who did not have the green bar-coded ones before and pensioners aged above sixty get the new smart card for free. Anyone less than sixty years old and who has the green ID book, is eligible to pay R140 for the new smart card. Lastly, the Kuruman office is urging pa-rents of new born babies to register them on the spot at the Tswaragano and Ku-ruman hospitals between Mondays and Fridays.

The Kathu Gazette had already re-ported on page 16 of the edition dated 20 January 2018 that the expiration of the green bar-coded ID on 31 March 2018 was not true. Editor

The Home Affairs office in Kuruman overflowed as the community heeded false messages that were spread via the social media to the effect that the green identity book is being phased out with imme-diate effect. On March 06, 2018, the queue meandered for almost fifty metres outside the offices, raising eyebrows to any observant passerby. The Kathu Gazette approached the depart-ment's district spokesperson, Aobakwe Pitso, to shed light on the situation. “We are equally taken by surprise about this influx. Understandably, the community is responding to the hearsay from the social media that the green bar coded ID’s validity is expiring by March 31, 2018. This is causing untold confusion and panic among the people.

The John Taolo Gaetsewe Business Chamber was launched on March 12, 2018 at the Gamagara communi-ty hall. The new establishment has so far garner-ed about 120 members drawn from the dis-trict's local municipalities - an emphatic ge-sture of enthusiasm shown by different em-erging business people. The committee and council structures, yet to be announced upon finalisation of can-didates, shall be composed of eight exec-utive committee members and seven non-executive ones to constitute a council. Briefing the media was Kingsley Tshaba-lala who said that the business chamber in the making is coming up with a refined ap-proach in the region, aimed at revamping business enhancement and creating an en-abling platform where opportunities must be distributed among members with great rationale and transparency. He said that emerging businesses need one another and, as a result, selfish ends need to be guarded against. The chamber wants to explore many ways to ensure that businesses are capa-citated so that the opportunities that arise are utilised to build confidence and good reputation. Very soon, the executive will ini-tiate extensive consultations with various stakeholders that include local economic offices to market the chamber and its broad objectives. The broader council shall be structured in such way that a certain group will target a certain sector to sell the chamber's idea of doing business and report back the out-comes as a monitoring and evaluation pro-cess. “We want to create cordial relationships with established businesses, organisations and institutions in an endeavour to learn, get support and enhance our capacity,” said Mr Tshabalala. “On the issue of new membership, the chamber is drafting a comprehensive piece of legislation that will guide minimum entry qualifications to ensure there is control, dis-cipline and sanity by prospective en-trants. The business chamber is prioritising a code of ethics within its ranks so that the level of transparency remains high to attract a reputable image and a sense of belonging by members,” Mr Tshabalala concluded.

Curro Kathu is very excited about their new rugby kit sponsored by Umqon-do Marketing and Consulting (Pty) Ltd for both the junior and high schools and trusts this will go a long way to grow the sport in the region.Umqondo Marketing and Consulting (Pty) Ltd was established in 2014 and is a spe-cialist supplier of hand tools, cutting tools, power and machine tools, related industrial consumables, padlocks including safety lockout systems as well as custom-made toolkits for a number of apprentice disci-plines. Their entire product offering is fit for use in the industry and carries a lifetime guarantee for normal use. Umqondo holds supply contracts with a number of industrial end users and their main focus has been to service engineering training centres. Umqondo is active in the Kathu area and is serviced by highly qualified technical re-presentatives. The company is 51% black women owned and has a level 2 BBEEE rating.Umqondo fully understands the urgent need for technical training and they are privileged to have this opportunity to partner with Curro schools offering a technical vo-cational curriculum option at their institu-tions. Eddie Conradie, Executive Head of Curro Kathu, expressed his gratitude for this great sponsorship on behalf of the rugby teams and coaches.Umqondo wishes Curro Kathu every suc-cess with this ground-breaking initiative to offer technical training.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members have again invaded Tswa-ragano hospital in Batlharos village as patients come out of the institution bemoan-ing different service deficiencies. A peaceful picketing was held on February 28, 2018 by the party to send yet another clarion call to the hospital and department authorities to improve the deteriorating state of the hospital and clinics in the district. Led by one of its outspoken Ga-Segon-yana municipality councillors Henry Chweu, EFF members said that the hospital is be-coming a “deathbed” as patients come out of the hospital either dead or still critically ill. A memorandum handed over to the au-thorities outlined a plethora of disturbing challenges in the provision of basic services by the saga-stricken hospital. Apart from the alleged medical and staff shortages at the institution, the situation is further exacerbated by the unskilful deploy-ment of cadres chosen on loyalty alone and not expertise in a very critical department. The memorandum categorically bemoan-ed the random loss of patient files in the wards due to lack of finesse in the handling skills. The radical party's demands are that cli-nics ought to be operational for 24 hours to cater for the growing number of people in re-lation to the ailing ones. These clinics must be manned by qualified nurses and doctors and these must also be employed with im-mediate effect. The party further demands that security personnel including cleaners and garden-ers, must be in-sourced with full benefits. Another sensitive conjecture was that un-ions within the health sector ought not to be politically driven and therefore must allow workers to join unions of their choice without interference. The memorandum also requested that all asbestos houses in the municipal and rural areas be replaced as these are a proven health hazard to the community.

The Kathu Solar Park solar plant was shut down on Thursday 01 March 2018 due to irate workers demon-strating at the plant. These workers had reached the end of their contracts.Apparently, the picketing general workers demanded to be re-employed in the place of foreigners working at the plant and to be paid the same as the skilled foreigners do. As a precaution, the entire plant was clo-sed down and employees were told to stay at home until further notice.In the meantime, negotiations are taking place between management and the dis-gruntled ex contract workers. The EFF political party is said to be en-couraging the workers.The Kathu Gazette approached the Ka-thu Solar Park for comment, however the spokesperson explained that due to the fact that management was attempting negotia-tions at the time, he could not comment at that stage. Presently, foreign and local workers are uncertain about when the situation will be resolved so they can return back to work.

New South African Mineral Re-sources Minister Gwede Mantashe has received a resounding welcome from the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) and mining luminaries.In its welcoming release, the chamber described Mr Mantashe, 62, as a man of integrity and dignity."He is a person with whom our industry has long held a constructive and respectful relationship," it said of the current national chairperson of the African National Con-gress (ANC) and a former chairperson of the South African Communist Party.BLSA remarked on Mr Mantashe's inti-mate knowledge of the mining sector and his astute negotiation skills - "two attributes that are critical to resolving the current im-passe around the formulation of the Mining Charter", said BLSA CEO Bonang Mohale.In also saluting Mr Mantashe's appoint-ment, co-chairman and partner Peter Leon from Herbert Smith Freehills urged Mr Man-tashe to make policy certainty his key and urgent priority.The Chamber of Mines declared the mi-ning industry ready and willing to play its part in building the sector and the economy while recommitting itself to further trans-formational progress."We recognise that much work lies ahead and we are looking forward to working with the newly appointed leadership and all in-dustry stakeholders to ensure that our in-dustry and the people that depend on it have a better future," the chamber added.The chamber stated that as union leader, Mr Mantashe had proved to be an extre-mely tough negotiator, which had been de-monstrated both during his time as general secretary of the NUM and in his subsequent political positions as secretary general of the ruling ANC."We look forward to the many engage-ments with him that doubtless lie ahead," said the chamber in putting behind it the tor-rid time it had suffered under the unilateral style of errant former Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane.Meanwhile, the National Union of Mine-workers (NUM) also welcomed the appoint-ment of Gwede Mantashe as the new Mini-ster of Mineral Resources."Comrade Gwede Mantashe comes from the mining industry and was the General Secretary of the NUM. He knows the mining industry very well and we are hopeful that he will make some changes. We expect him to do his job as the Minister of Mineral Re-sources and not to be biased. He must com-ply and do everything within the laws of this country,” said William Mabapa, NUM De-puty General Secretary. He added that NUM hopes that the department will be re-suscitated by the new minister and serve all the stakeholders in the mining industry, in-cluding rival unions. Mining Weekly, NUM communication

On Saturday,10 March, the Basket-ball league was held at Sivos. The enthusiasm and the drive of these kids gave it their all on the court. Saddening is the fact that this growing South African sport was not attended by the relevant schools or parents and that there is very little support for these children. They do not have team gear or proper refreshments and it was hard to tell them apart. A parent from Kathu High, Basie Eilerd says that it is hard for them to travel to games as none of the schools support their players and they have a problem getting the players to away matches. It is all up to coach Lionel Phiri, Basie Eilerd and Sydney Nitili to make things happen for these eager kids. They coach, motivate, support and have com-mitted to these kids and the sport. Kudos to you all! It is a great, high impact, easy to learn sport that can be enjoyed by all. If there are any businesses or corporations interested in donating gear it would be much appreciated. They practise every evening at Sivos at 6pm. Come join the Basketball family or just come and support this growing sport, you may just like it! you all! It is a great, high impact, easy to learn sport that can be enjoyed by all. If there are any businesses or corporations interested in donating gear it would be much appreciated. They practise every evening at Sivos at 6pm. Come join the Basketball family or just come and support this growing sport, you may just like it! Results for Saturday: Gamagara High won vs Langeberg High; Baitiredi High Tech & Com 24 vs Sishen Intermediate 21Kathu High 34 vs Sishen Intermediate 11Gamagara High 9 vs Baitiredi Tech & Com 13

Sishen Golf Club hosted an awesome golf day on Saturday, 10 March, with a four ball alliance, American Scram-ble format. There was some fierce but fun competition between the teams and a full field of players attended. The atmosphere at the club was vibrant and an overall enjoyable day which ended with a “wors braai” and lovely social gathering of locals. The teams were no match for the overall winners; Allan Toy, Magri Beukes, Magdel du Toit and Lukas Malan who finished the day with 56 points. There was a 3way count out of 55 points but Danny Leibrandt, Char-les Prins, Herbie van Rensberg, Lewellyn Leibrandt took the second spot. The team of Nico Peenze, Donovan Coetzer, Phillip Peenze and “Spyker” took the third place, 55 points. Congratulations to the winners and all the participants.winners; Allan Toy, Magri Beukes, Magdel du Toit and Lukas Malan who finished the day with 56 points. There was a 3way count out of 55 points but Danny Leibrandt, Char-les Prins, Herbie van Rensberg, Lewellyn Leibrandt took the second spot. The team of Nico Peenze, Donovan Coetzer, Phillip Peenze and “Spyker” took the third place, 55 points. Congratulations to the winners and all the participants.

This weekend Sishen Golf Club hosted the Van Druten Amateur Open which is one of the five order of merit qualifiers for the Northen Cape provincial teams. Golfers travelled from far and wide to play the three rounds (54 holes) of golf. On Saturday they played 36 holes in very hot conditions and some of the golfers battled our camel thorn trees. Overall the golfers showed some great talent and competitiveness. There was a big field of 90 golfers competing in this tournament. Our local golfers W de Klerk (75/ 68/ 71) 214 and A. Toy (69/ 74/ 76)219 played great golf but the home advantage was not enough to catch the talented Bertie Steenkamp from Upington, who led the field from the start with a (68/ 71/ 73)212 winning the tournament with a 4 under par after 3 rounds. Congratulations Bertie! The next qualifier will be hosted at Kimberley Golf Club in February, good luck to all our local participants!golfers showed some great talent and competitiveness. There was a big field of 90 golfers competing in this tournament. Our local golfers W de Klerk (75/ 68/ 71) 214 and A. Toy (69/ 74/ 76)219 played great golf but the home advantage was not enough to catch the talented Bertie Steenkamp from Upington, who led the field from the start with a (68/ 71/ 73)212 winning the tournament with a 4 under par after 3 rounds. Congratulations Bertie! The next qualifier will be hosted at Kimberley Golf Club in February, good luck to all our local participants!a 4 under par after 3 rounds. Congratulations Bertie! The next qualifier will be hosted at Kimberley Golf Club in February, good luck to all our local participants!Results as follows: Best Gross: B. Steenkamp, W. de Klerk, A. ToyBest Nett: W. de Klerk, A. Seme, B. Steenkamp,R. Gouws

Matthew 6:6 NIV “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Prayer is intimate communication with our Father in heaven. The Lord invites us all to pray and we are urged to pray with-out ceasing. Jesus also frequently prayed. We read in Luke 6:12 ”One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” We must be careful not to pray with selfish motives, but to pray according to the will of God. Our prayers should also be offered in faith. Through our prayers God can bring about revival and change can come in our circumstances. John Wesley wrote : “God does nothing on the earth save in answer to believing prayer.” It is important to honour God in our prayers and acknowledge His sovereign-ty. James 5:16 Ampl “......The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a right-eous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).”

KATHU INN

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Northern Cape Premier Sylvia Lucas, along with a delegation, is attending the Bloodhound Supersonic Car's (SSC's) first ever public run, which is sche-duled to take place at the Aerohub Enter-prise Zone, Newquay Airport, Cornwall in the UK.The delegation to the UK includes senior politicians, government officials and pupils from various schools, comprising six pupils from high schools offering science, techno-logy, engineering, mathematics and tourism subjects, as well as the top two pupils in ma-thematics and science from Rietfontein High School.The spokesperson for the Premier's Of-fice in Kimberley, Bronwyn Thomas-Abra-hams, stated that the objective of the United Kingdom mission was to show the pro-vince's support for the Bloodhound project and to strengthen partnerships with the UK and Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) stakeholders.She said that the opportunity will be used to promote the Northern Cape and Green Kalahari as tourist destinations and explore educational opportunities presented by the Bloodhound project for fields such as science, technology, engineering, mathe-matics and tourism. Further clarity will be gained on the project details and roll-out for the South African run at Haksteenpan in the Northern Cape.This project has been supported by the province since 2010 with the small villages in the Mier area preparing the track. The pro-ject has contributed significantly to job creation in this area with over 300 communi-ty members assisting with the track clear-ance.”Ms Thomas-Abrahams said that the MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Bongiwe Mbin-qo-Gigaba, would serve as the acting pre-mier from October 22 until November 01. DFA

Adelaide January, a young poet from Seoding village in Kuruman released a book titled Mending Broken Pieces. She started writing at the age of 16 years old.

She completed matric at Wrenchville High School and obtained a Certificate in Wholesale and Retail Management. Currently she is studying towards a Diploma in Public Relations.

In 2003, she established an organization called Kurara Wordsmiths (KWS) which aims to provide a platform to poets and writers in and around Kuruman. Kurara Wordsmiths have an annual event that allows them to share their talent.

Her greatest achievement includes being one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans 2016 for making an impact in her community.

Mending Broken Pieces is a prose and poetry book that consist of eleven poems, mostly written in the English language with some parts of the work in Setswana. It took her two years to publish this book as it is very close to her heart and is all about what she is passionate about.

Adelaide is inspired by her surroundings and social issues within her community. Her role model is Lebo Mashile, who is a well-known international and national poet and television personality.

Adelaide’s advice to upcoming writers and poets is : “Keep writing, equip yourself and polish your talent and technique by attending workshops and showcasing at various events.”